Jennifer Miller swears by the pulled pork at Smokey D's BBQ, shown here with a side of coleslaw. / Register file photo

Everything’s coming up piggy this month, which is National Pork Month and Eat Country Ham month. It also happens to be National Pasta Month and National Pizza month. And because Americans are nothing if not ironic, it’s National Vegetarian Month and — wait for it — National Diabetes Month. You can’t make this stuff up. BTW, it happens to be Sarcastic Month, too.

In other pig-related fabulousness, Smokey D’s BBQ just brought home the bacon from the American Royal World Series of Barbecue Open contest in Kansas City, Mo., winning Grand Champion over hundreds of teams. If you’ve never had the restaurant’s pulled pork, you’re dumb. And I mean that in the sweetest possible way. Also, they make a Scotcheroo-ish thing as big as your head (which makes you decide you should probably split one with a friend, but then feel really sorry that you did) that alone is worth the trip.

Maybe this isn’t exactly, truly, all about the pig, but close enough: Hotshots Craft Hotdoggery will be relocating to an as-yet-undecided location, leaving their downtown spot in the Nationwide building. Changes will include expanded hours that include dinner service, an expanded wiener menu and creative appetizers, beer and wine and most importantly, more space. You can eat in the present location through the month of October. Follow Hotshots on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hotshotdogs or on Twitter.

And … Carl Blake, Iowa’s most unusual pig breeder, will be a presenter in Iowa State University’s lecture series. In his lecture, “In Pursuit of the Perfect Pig,” Blake will share the story of the circuitous, and bumpy, route to breeding Iowa Swabian Halls pigs. Blake has worked with Andrew Zimmern, been written about in the New York Times (but I wrote about him first — copycats) and appeared on “The Colbert Report.” The lecture is Friday at 6 p.m. in the Gallery at the Memorial Union on the campus in Ames.

Sacre bleu! The French are on my side!

According to a recent New York Times article, French people are super smart. I mean, that’s not exactly what the story says, but it does say that they are very wary of kale. Which is pretty much the same thing.

“While legions of American chefs, diners and health gurus have turned it into a menu staple and a sought-after superfood, their Gallic counterparts do not understand the leafy green vegetable. Even worse, they do not seem interested.”

One of the finest food cultures in the world has unmasked kale for what it is: Zed. Rien. Meh.

“They cannot even agree on what to call it. There are at least five terms for kale, and the technical name, chou frisé non-pommé, translates unappetizingly as ‘curly headless cabbage.’ ” I like “bitter green construction paper,” but OK.

This is a culture that eats almost anything — big black or white fungi located by pigs, snails, frog’s legs, sweetbreads (you know those are made from various innard bits). And yet, in sophisticated Paree, they resist the kale juggernaut.

“Even here in the city that tends to embrace trends it considers très Brooklyn, kale (so ubiquitous in Brooklyn that it could be named the borough’s official vegetable) evokes the classic Parisian shrug.”

Voila! I rest my case.

Amuse bouches

• Cheers for another lecture at ISU.“Food­opoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America” is the topic presented by Wenonah Hauter, the executive director of Food & Water Watch. Her lecture will focus on the economics and politics behind our current food systems and how corporate consolidation affects farmers and consumers. The event is 8 p.m. Tuesday at ISU’s Memorial Union Sun Room.

• Proof announced that its winter menu will focus exclusively on dishes of northern Spain and Adriatic Italy. And they have announced the themes for November and December’s monthly tasting menus, which will feature “Betty Crocker reconstructed” in November and “Big City dishes” (dishes associated with specific towns) in December. These dinners are held on the second Saturday of each month. You can make reservations online at www.proofrestaurant.com/second-saturday-suppers or call Proof at 515-244-0655.

• If you haven’t had a chance to get to Le Jardin’s new spot in Beaverdale, you can take a look at the menu on their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/LeJardin. Sign me up for the rabbit meatloaf, please!